Polish Polar Research

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Description

The quarterly Polish Polar Research edited by the Committee on
Polar Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences is an international
journal publishing original research articles presenting the results of
studies carried out in polar regions.

All papers are peer-reviewed and published in English.

The Editorial Advisory Board includes renowned scientist from Poland and
from abroad.

Abstract

Four water masses were distinguished in the upper water layer between
Elephant Island and the South Orkneys. Measurements of temperature,
salinity, concentrations of dissolved oxygen and silicates were used for
the analysis of the hydrological situation and to recognise the origin
of water masses. For additional information, nitrates and chlorophyll
concentrations were used. Drake Passage and Bransfield Strait waters
occupied the western part of the investigated area, from surface to 150
m depth. Below, the Circumpolar Warm Deep Waters (CWDW) were found. The
region east of 53.5°W was occupied by winter Weddell Sea water. Above
this, a 45 m thin layer of summer modification of Weddell Sea Surface
Water was found between 49°W and the South Orkneys. The
highestchlorophyll α concentrations were found in this modified water.

Abstract

Results of an oceanographic survey along the edge of drifting pack ice
in the area between Elephant Island and the South Orkney Islands are
reported. The influence of sea ice on hydrological factors was very
weak. It was not possible to develop oceanographic features
characteristic for marginal sea-ice zones in the areas with well marked
surface currents and dynamic hydrological conditions. The spatial
distribution of chlorophyll was governed by water stability, although
during our survey, areas with enhanced vertical stability could not be
described in terms of a sea-ice edge influence.

Abstract

The highest concentrations of algal cells (1.1 x l0 6 litre- 1 ) and of
algal carbon (20 μg litre -1 ) were associated with a lens of ice melt
water in the northeast of the study area. Phytoflagellates were dominant
at all stations with greater numbers always in the 0 - 20 m surface
layer and with the peaks of Cryptophyceae in the open waters and also
near the ice edge east of 50° W. Picoplankton flagellates and monads
(1.5-5.0 μ) were generally next in abundance and most important
numerically in the near ice stations in the western part of the study
area. Parasinophyceae were usually more abundant than Nitzschia
cylindrus (Grunow) Hasle, the only common diatom species found mainly in
the western near ice edge stations. The presence olN.cylindrus, dominant
in the pack ice and in phytoplankton near the ice edge, shows that algae
released from ice may act as an inoculum for the phytoplankton.

Abstract

Altogether 105 algal taxa were identified including 101 diatom species.
Chaetoceros criophilus was dominant in the western part of the study
area influenced by waters from the Bellingshausen Sea. Corethron
criophilum was abundant in the Weddcll Sea water mass found to the east
of 53.5°W meridian. Nitzschia cylindrus common in the ice-melt samples
was dominant in only two net phytoplankton collections obtained at the
ice-edge zone. Additional samples from Admiralty Bay, at King George
Island revealed the dominance of Chaetoceros socialis and the presence
of many tychoplankton species. Very few diatom cells were found in the
open waters of the Bransfield Strait which combined with the presence of
krill, suggested intensive grazing by herbivores. The unstable waters of
the Weddell-Scotia Confluence area contained little phytoplankton except
for a station dominated by Phaeocystis pouchetii. Greater cell densities
were related to warm, lower salinity Weddell Sea water of summer
modification found in the surface layer east from 49°W.

Abstract

At the northern border of pack ice the study on chlorophyll a content,
density of cells, species composition and domination in samples from the
drifting ice floes and from brash ice was carried out. 102 taxa of algae
were found in the pack ice. In the study area algal taxa were rather
uniformly distributed. In different ice layers the qualitative
composition of diatom assemblages was similar and usually the diatom
Nitzschia cylindrus was dominant and most frequent. Chlorophyll a
content (from 0.12 to 334.5 mg m-3) and the density of cells (from 0.3
to 362 x l0 6 cm) varied strongly in various habitats. Ice floes near
the northern pack ice border contained low values of chlorophyll a (mean
value 0.50 ±0.28 mg m-3) . However, brash sea ice originating from ice
floes, contained 142.4 ±117.5 mg m-3 of chlorophyll α in visibly
discoloured and 30.1 ±24.3 mg m~3 of chlorophyll α in not visibly
discoloured parts on average. The range of chlorophyll α content and the
presence of characteristic species allow to distinguish brash sea ice
infiltration assemblage of diatoms.

Abstract

Macrozooplankton was caught at 17 stations with a Bongo net from the
0-200 m layer. The stations were located near the pack ice edge, between
Elephant Islands and the South Orkney Islands. The cluster analysis of
58 recognized taxa allowed to distinguish three regions: the western —
near Elephant Island, the middle and the western one — at the South
Orkney Islands. No clear difference in macrozooplankton species
composition at the open sea stations and those near pack ice was found.
The average biomass of macrozooplankton in the investigated area
amounted to 82.8 g/1000 m3 (95% CL: 47.2-94.2 g/1000m3).
Macrozooplankton was dominated by salps and krill. The biomass and 95%
confidence limits were 52.0 g/1000 m3 (15.6-59.2 g/1000 m3) and 26.1
g/1000 m3 (8.4-30.4 g/1000 m3), respectively. Differences in the biomass
distribution of some taxa in three distinguished regions were observed.
Except of salps the biomass of particular taxa caught near the pack ice
edge and the same taxa caught in stations distant from this edge were
similar. The biomass of salps was evidently higher in most northern
stations.

Abstract

At the ice edge krill undergoes diurnal migrations with the period of 12
hours and amplitude of about 6 meters. The mean depth of krill
occurrence is 41 m, shallower then for open waters. In our opinion these
migration parameters are characteristic of juvenile adolescent krill
dominating at the ice edge.

Abstract

In the investigated area the overall abundance of krill was small and
was increasing with the distance from ice. However, with the data
available, it was not possible to decide whether this increase was
related to the ice border or was a part of a larger scale phenomenon.
The depth distributions as well as the mean values of krill depth were
similar to those of open water both in this study and reported in
literature.

Abstract

In the region between King George Island and the South Orkney Islands 7
fish species from 6 families were found. The concentration of larvae at
the edge of drifting ice was higher (2.55 ind. x 1000 m-3) than in the
stations situated at a distance from the ice edge (0.93 ind. x 1000 m-3).

Instructions for authors

Instructions for authors

The quarterly Polish Polar Research invites original scientific papers,
dealing with all aspects of polar research. The journal aims to provide
a forum for publication of high quality research papers, which are of
international interest.

Articles must be written in English. Authors are requested to have their
manuscript read by a person fluent in English before submission. They
should be not longer than 30 typescript pages, including tables, figures
and references. All papers are peer-reviewed. With the submitted
manuscript authors should provide the names, addresses and e-mail
addresses of three suggested reviewers.

Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been
published previously nor is under consideration by another journal.

The contribution should be submitted as Word file. It should be prepared
in single- column double-spaced format and 25 mm margins. Consult a
recent issue of the journal for layout and conventions (journals.pan.pl/ppr).
Prepare figures and tables as separate files. For computer-generated
graphics, editor Corel Draw is preferred. Line art images should be
scanned and saved as bitmap (black and white) images at a resolution of
600–1200 dpi and tightly cropped. Computer versions of the photographs
should be saved in TIFF format of at least 400 dpi (non-interpolated).
Maximal publication size of illustrations is 126 × 196 mm. Limited
number of color reproductions in print is fee of charge. Color artwork
in PDF is free of charge.

Title should be concise and informative, no longer than 15 words.
Abstract should have no more than 250 words. The authors are requested
to supply up to 5 keywords. The references should be arranged
alphabetically and chronologically. Journal names should not be
abbreviated. Please, ensure that every reference cited in the text is
also present in the reference list and vice versa. Responsibility for
the accuracy of bibliographic citations lies entirely with the authors.
References in the text to papers should consist of the surname of the
author(s) followed by the year of publication. More than two authors
should be cited with the first author’s surname, followed by et al.
(Dingle et al. 1998) but in full in the References.